When you wander through a city, you’re walking through history, as the buildings around you reflect the stories of the city and the cultures of those who once inhabited or currently inhabit it. A church a thousand years old shows you the traditions and beliefs of worshippers of days past. A skyscraper that was once one of the tallest in the world demonstrates the growth of the industrial age and how far we’ve come in just a few hundred years. The oldest still-standing restaurant in the city is discovered to have a hidden room, a relic from the Prohibition Era. Every building tells the stories of the people who once lived, worked, and loved there.
Throughout history, cemeteries have been called “cities of the dead,” and perhaps no other “city” reflects cultural history more than a cemetery does.
Cemeteries and Cultural History
To understand the cultural reflections found in a cemetery, let’s journey back in time to the original cemeteries. Cemeteries in the United States were originally considered urban cemeteries, built in more crowded areas of the country and primarily found in churchyards. The monuments and memorials in these cemeteries reflected the beliefs of the worshippers of the church. However, as they were located in such crowded places, these burial sites filled up quickly.
A new practice began to develop cemeteries in less crowded areas of the country, which became known as rural or garden cemeteries. These cemeteries reflected the needs of the community, who often lacked places to gather. As such, cemeteries served the additional purpose of being a public park. The architecture reflected this need, as the cemetery was built with wide open spaces, landscaped walkways, and gathering locations.
They also took a great deal of inspiration from the English landscape garden movement. Perhaps it’s worth considering that the development of these types of cemeteries coincides with the growth of the Industrial Revolution, suggesting that the American people may have been looking for connection and beauty in the natural world as the human-made world developed. Garden cemeteries were lush with plants and greenery.
However, another change occurred. While these cemeteries largely once kept the living and those who have already passed in the same areas, feelings regarding death prominently began to shift at the turn of the 20th century. Popular culture began to instill fear in people regarding death and the idea of spending time amongst the dead. As people started to fear spending time in cemeteries, the construction of cemeteries began to change once more. An iron gate often marked the distinction between spaces for those who are resting in the cemetery and those who are there to enjoy a day in a beautiful place.
From the influence of the church to the change in perception of what it means to spend time amongst the spirits resting in the cemetery, we see cultural history everywhere in a cemetery, from the monuments and memorial markers to the walkways and the mausoleums. Cemeteries function as a time capsule, with stories of the past always there waiting for us to uncover.